Nearly three years after the fall of the hard-line Islamic Taleban regime in Afghanistan, as millions of women prepare to vote in upcoming elections, even debating women’s rights remains an issue fraught with difficulty.

Afghanistan's only female candidate for president has no money for campaigning and almost no coverage in the media. Islamic fundamentalists hate her, and instead of a political party to support her she has a group of students from Kabul University.

As with all matters relating to rebuilding the legal, social and political environments in Afghanistan, the problem of women and children in prison is very complex and needs attention from many different areas.

With just half a million Afghans registered since early December 2003, the process has a long way to go to enfranchise the estimated 10.5 million potential voters eligible to participate in elections this summer.